Nov. 20, 2015 –
FORT KNOX, Ky. – U.S. Army Reserve soldiers from the 11th
Theater Aviation Command (TAC), headquartered at Fort Knox, co-hosted a
National American Indian Heritage Month observance, with guest speaker, Matthew
“Black Eagle Man” Cordes, Nov. 20 on Fort Knox.
“It is truly a privilege to be here and I want to personally
thank you all for accompanying us today to celebrate National American Indian
Heritage Month”, said Brig. Gen. Scott Morcomb, Commanding General of the 11th
Theater Aviation Command.
November is National American Indian Heritage Month and its
purpose it to recognize the significant contributions that American Indians
made to the establishment and growth of the U.S.
Before introducing the guest speaker, U.S. Army Aviator, Brig.
Gen. Morcomb, highlighted the relationship that Army Aviation has to American
Indian Heritage. “Our helicopters, such as the CH-47 Chinook, UH-60 Blackhawk
and AH-64 Apache are all named after various Indian Tribes and prominent figure
heads. The
U.S. Army adopted these names because of the quality and fighting spirit of
American Indian Heritage accurately captured by the various capabilities,
mobility, endurance and firepower of the aircraft in our arsenal”, added
Morcomb.
Following opening remarks, Morcomb introduced Cordes, whose
lifelong experiences led him and his wife to found Red Road Awareness, a
non-profit organization in Louisville that was created to assist American
Indians in crisis in the local area.
Cordes addressed gatherers about his unique life story, as
well as orchestrating native music and dance ensembles for those in attendance.
Cordes, was born Kevin Prince on Long Plain First Nation
Indian reserve in Manitoba, Canada. He was adopted at the age of nine after
spending three years in 33 foster homes.
Ironically, the 11th TAC, co-hosted this observance, while
simultaneously conducting the Equal Opportunity (EO) Leaders course comprised
of U.S. Army Reserve and U.S. Army active duty commands working together.
The EO Leaders course is designed to educate and train its
students about the Army’s EO program in order to help their leadership enforce
this policy within their own units. The
EO program is designed to sustain a comprehensive effort to ensure fair
treatment for military personnel and family members without regard to race,
color, national origin, religion, gender or sexual orientation and provide an
environment free of unlawful discrimination and offensive behavior.
The 11th TAC is the only aviation command in the Army
Reserve. The 11th TAC has two missions, functioning as both a warfighting
headquarters and as a functional command. As a war-fighting command, the 11th TAC
provides command & control, staff planning, and supervision for two
aviation brigades and one air traffic service battalion. As a functional
command the 11th TAC provides command and control for all Army Reserve
Aviation.